Birney and Dowd, the star of The Handmaid\u2019s Tale<\/a>, The Leftovers and a variety of other critically-acclaimed titles, play Richard and Linda, a separated couple whose son took a gun into his school and opened fire on his classmates before turning the gun on himself six years prior. As part of an experimental programme, Richard and Linda meet in the basement of a local church with Jay (Jason Isaacs) and Gail (Martha Plimpton), whose son was killed by their\u2019s, to talk about their children and collectively reflect on the tragedy.<\/p>\n For Dowd, it was Kranz\u2019s emotionally-charged script that drew her to the project. \u201cThe beauty of the characters and the story,\u201d she continues. \u201cThe opportunity to drop into a world that is unimaginable, to be amongst this cast.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cEverything about it was dreamy honestly,\u201d Birney adds. \u201cHow would you begin to craft a conversation that seems this real and natural given the subject matter. It was a fantastic part. As gruesome and horrible as this situation is, it was thrilling as an actor to play something, as Annie says, is unimaginable. It\u2019s almost as if we were asked to do a movie about a trip to the moon it was so out of my can.\u201d<\/p>\n To prepare for the role, Birney read an essay written by the father of Adam Lanza, the 20-year-old behind the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in 2012, but everything else was in the script. \u201cThe circumstances were so complicated and so rich that as an actor it was a supreme challenge, honestly, but thrilling to do.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a mysterious process, isn\u2019t it?\u201d Dowd adds. \u201cWhat we had established in the two and a half days of rehearsal was a very deep trust and an openness with one another which is essential and not always there. But we were comfortable and trusted one another very quickly. The text was full and clear, and deeply considered, nothing careless in it. It was a tremendous experience.\u201d<\/p>\n Despite the film\u2019s upsetting plot, Birney says that filming was \u201cjoyous\u201d, with none of the stars adopting a method style of acting outside of scenes.<\/p>\n \u201cWe laughed our heads off between takes and would go out to dinner. not to be disrespectful to the subject matter, but actually having that be a release from the intensity and the focus of the work,\u201d he says. \u201cNobody was somebody who said, \u2018You have to call me by my character\u2019s name all the time.\u2019 There was none of that. Everybody just dove right in and let it happen and so that was rare.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cTo each his own,\u201d Ann says. \u201cWe were just fortunate that we\u2019ve been doing it a long time. Reed I think has been acting for 70 years, is it Reed?\u201d, to which he responds: \u201c470 years.\u201d<\/p>\n While the relationship between Linda and Richard in the film is incredibly frosty but underlined with an unfathomable weight of shared grief, Dowd and Birney\u2019s couldn\u2019t be more different, with the pair affectionately catching up and joking around. Ahead of shooting the film, which took place over eight days in Idaho, the two stars didn\u2019t discuss with each other how their characters\u2019 marriage dissolved and why exactly it happened.<\/p>\n \u201cWe both knew it didn\u2019t work out as a result of the event. Almost like Richard and Linda in a funny way, I think,\u201d Reed says. \u201cUnable to talk about what happened to the marriage. It\u2019s just like, it\u2019s over, I\u2019m leaving, bye.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cReed and I barely spoke to each other,\u201d Dowd jokes. \u201cI think I have to mention that he\u2019s the funniest person I\u2019ve ever met on a set in my life.\u201d<\/p>\n Mass takes place almost exclusively in the brightly-lit church basement as the two couples spend nearly the entirety of the film speaking about their sons \u2013 conversations made to feel even more uncomfortable at times thanks to Kranz\u2019s use of incredibly long takes.<\/p>\n \u201cWe don\u2019t really remember where the camera were, it was a very private room. Fran was not with us in the room, he was outside the room and came in when he had a note to give,\u201d Dowd says, with Birney adding: \u201cIt was very intense as you can imagine because we\u2019d do these 20 minutes takes and then we cut and we\u2019d have to change the angle and do another 20 minute take of the same thing.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was very focused and it was almost like we were scientists working on something. As an actor, I\u2019ve never had an experience like this honestly.\u201d<\/p>\n While Birney had been able to watch the finished product, Dowd admits that she wasn\u2019t ready to visit it just yet. \u201cIt\u2019s just more that the experience itself was very profound and the connection with the character was just\u2013 I\u2019ve never had such a thing to that extent for that period of time. Every time I try to think of watching, it just pushes back and I want to leave the experience in place. Who knows what will happen in the future and Reed keeps punishing me for not watching it.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI want her to see it because I\u2019m so proud of it,\u201d Birney adds. \u201cI\u2019ve watched it quite a few times and I\u2019ve never seen it with an audience which I am desperate to do. Something about this particular project I don\u2019t find it difficult to watch. Sometimes I do \u2013 sometimes I don\u2019t like what I\u2019m doing or the way I\u2019m filmed, but this one I\u2019m so proud of.\u201d<\/p>\n Mass turned out to be just the beginning of Birney and Dowd\u2019s working relationship, with the stage actor landing a role on The Handmaid\u2019s Tale shortly after filming wrapped. Most fans will know Dowd as the terrifying Aunt Lydia, the brutal caretaker of the Handmaids and head teacher when it comes to their sexual re-education \u2013 a role which won Dowd, and her co-star Elisabeth Moss, an Emmy back in 2017.<\/p>\n \u201cI was at Sundance and ran into Elisabeth Moss, whom I knew a little bit, and I said I\u2019d just worked with Annie and she said, \u2018I know,\u2019 and thew her arms around me,\u201d Birney explains. \u201cShe went home from Sundance and the script for that episode was on her desk and she started reading and she said, \u2018Oh, I think Reed would be great for this.\u2019<\/p>\n Birney, who\u2019d never seen the show before, watched all the existing episodes in a week before making his debut on the show as Lieutenant Stans in season four. \u201cYou were wonderful,\u201d Dowd says. \u201cTerrific and scary! You brought to it that kind of terrifying quiet.\u201d<\/p>\n As for what we can expect from season five, Dowd can\u2019t give much away \u2013 mainly as she hasn\u2019t had the scripts through yet. \u201cThe writers are very smart. They don\u2019t tell actors anything \u2013 I don\u2019t have a clue at all about what will be happening.<\/p>\n \u201cI do know that there\u2019s a season five and six,\u201d she continues, before saying that she\u2019s due to return to filming the show at the \u201cend of January\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cI imagine Reed is going to be\u2013 I think he should be fully involved,\u201d she says, with Birney adding: \u201cThere are plenty of people to kill. I would love to do it. But nobody\u2019s talking to me about it either so we\u2019ll say it\u2019s all to be determined.\u201d<\/p>\n Should Aunt Lydia and Lieutenant Sands get their own spin-off? \u201cI like that,\u201d Dowd says. \u201cI want to get a different costume in that case. I think Lydia needs to flirt a little.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWell, I did say I have a little bit of a fantasy that Lieutenant Stans and Lydia maybe went out to dinner a couple of times,\u201d Birney laughs.<\/p>\n As our interview comes to an end, I ask whether viewers ever confuse Dowd with the horrific character she plays on the show, and while on the whole most people are lovely, she recalls one instance when the show started when a fan suddenly clocked who she was. \u201cI have had people very early on \u2013 a woman finally recognising who I played. She basically turned and not ran but she walked very, very quickly.<\/p>\n \u201cShe was travelling backwards down the escalator and I was just like, \u2018Whoa, everything\u2019s OK here.\u2019 But it\u2019s generally, very sweet people.\u201d<\/p>\n Birney chimes in: \u201cAnd I never get recognised anywhere so it\u2019s not a problem.\u201d<\/p>\n Mass comes to Sky Cinema and cinemas on 20th January. Check out our\u00a0TV Guide<\/a>\u00a0or visit our dedicated\u00a0Film<\/a> hub for what to watch.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n![\""Ann\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2022\/01\/Mass-Main-07083f7.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413"\" "\\"\"mass-reed-birney-ann-dowd\"\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>![\""Ann\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2022\/01\/MASS-1-copy-99c552a.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413"\" "\\"\"ann-dowd-reed-birney-mass\"\\"\/")
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<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>Loved this\u00a0Big RT Interview<\/a>? Check out these\u2026<\/strong><\/h3>\n